Beating down a straw man

By now, it's clear that Barack Obama's message of change and hope scares the bejabbers out of conservatives. So the attack is on. Obama's a inspirational speaker but there's no substance, they say. Obama is bringing new voters into the process, but he's got no experience, they say. Obama's appealing to fed-up Republicans, but they aren't real Republicans. All nonsense of course.

The measure of their fear can be found in David Brooks New York Times commentary today, entitled, When the Magic Fades. In it, Brooks sets up a mystical straw man who is only superficially similar to the candidate, so that he can knock this scarecrow god from his pedestal, and tear him apart.

Brooks doesn't relegate straw-man manufacturing for the candidate, painting supporters as some kind of addicted mob. He writes:

Up until now The Chosen One’s speeches had seemed to them less like stretches of words and more like soul sensations that transcended time and space. But those in the grips of Obama Comedown Syndrome began to wonder if His stuff actually made sense.

Of course, there is no evidence of this flagging support, save in a press that has built a candidate, and now wants to tear him down. This "candidate remorse" is a fiction created by a jaded, and conservative press.

He writes:

Barack Obama vowed to abide by the public finance campaign-spending rules in the general election if his opponent did. But now he’s waffling on his promise.


The minute Obama decides not to abide by public financing, this argument will be legitimate, until now, it's a nasty attack about something that hasn't happened.

He writes:

If he values independent thinking, why is his the most predictable liberal vote in the Senate?

This is, of course, the vaguest kind of criticism. What does "most predictable liberal vote in the Senate" really mean. Predictable by whom, and about what? Brooks should know that the most predicatable vote in the Senate is any Republican, because they vote lockstep, as a block, to counter ever bit of legislation that comes before them. Remember that "liberal" Senator Creepy Joe™ Lieberman? I'd wager his vote is far more predictable than Obama's.

Brook's column is filled with these imaginary sins. But you'll hear more about them. Just turn on any conservative talk radio show between now and the election. The list of outrages will be long, and the charges rancorous, but the actual facts will show that most of the charges are fairy tales.

When the magic fails? Magic is sleight-of-hand, Mr. Brooks, and the master of misdirection only has a few more months in the White House. If you're talking about failed magic, maybe you should direct your observations to the abracadabras of terrorism, patriotism and the free market.